GR RP "Adventures in GunRunning" ACT 23
POSTED BY: CapnRahn
UPDATED: Sunday, November 7, 2004 21:02
VIEWED: 20468
PAGE 2 of 10
Rowan's Move
LOCATION - GALLEY
ROWAN: "Let's make us some Bao."
Setting the tin of scallions up on the counter, she removes two bricks of compressed protein from the refrigerator and sets them aside. Then she's back into the cupboards again, pulling down the spices and sauces she saw the last time she was in there - soy, oyster, sesame, garlic powder, plus the basics. There isn't any more fresh garlic, which is something she'll have to remedy as soon as she can once they get to New Hokkaido. Always a good practice to leave galley stores as she finds them. Lining them up, she takes another peek out into the main area, where Merz is still sitting.
What kind of regimen has Merz been subjected to for only an entire lifetime? Some of the information they had garnered alluded to the idea that they were clones of soldiers who had been subjected to the exact same program more than 50 years ago, possibly longer. Only they never found any evidence of cloning activities within the Alliance. Robert was the one who came up with the crazy notion that the Alliance actually had a contingent of elite soldiers who were kept in a state of hibernation when not in use and then thawed out when they were needed for another war or police action or something else even more dark and despicable. There used to be a time when Rowan would have argued the point - she accused him of having played one two many VR games - but now she isn't so sure he wasn't so far off the mark after all.
Reminded of the message that still needs answering, yet unwilling to do so with Jayne in such close proximity, Rowan returns to her work.
The "bread" needs to be prepared first, so the protein has time to absorb the spices and taste like something other than bland paste. Rowan begins by giving Jayne the eye before unwrapping one of the bricks. Slamming it down on the counter, she rolls the wrapper up into a ball and shoots for two points into the trash receptor. From the drawer behind her, she takes out a stainless-steel rolling pin and shoves the drawer closed with her hip. Smacking the protein with the rolling pin, she begins to flatten it out.
EOM
Fans come and fans go...but zealots are with you until the bitter black end.
I draw...therefore I am.
http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=7922
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JAYNE - GALLEY
Every problem is an opportunity in disguise. That's what he'd heard Inara say on one or two occasions. Jayne decides to volunteer his rarely seen cooking skills to Rowan's bao. He'd made it once or twice himself when he was young, when there was a crowd to feed and his mother couldn't handle everything herself.
"Bao", Jayne says to Rowan as she prepares to roll the protein. "I can make bao. Lemme do that for you. Or I'm handy with a knife, too." He talks smoothly as he moves in towards Rowan, extending his free hand to the rolling pin.
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MERZ move
LOCATION - GALLEY
MERZ heard and understood ROWANs question about the test results and was able to respond. She was coherent enough to nod her understanding of ROWANs implied question. But she was still slow to come back to reality from the cognitive state. Having gone that deep to assimilate events of the day, time was needed to catch up to the present.
Something JAYNE had said earlier had filtered in and been added to the mix. Having finally put context to what he had said, she looks up and attempts to catch JAYNEs attention. She will come back to ROWANs question momentarily …
MERZ
“JAYNE. Are you implying that it was Captain Reynolds that put those contusions on your face?”
He does not have to respond in words, she can read his reactions like print. She tilts her head and opens her mouth to speak again. But a shudder runs through her. The empty expression on her face twists into a rictus that in no way resembles a smile.
MERZ
“You said” … “you got off 'thout so much as a grill mark on yer face, so 'sider yerself lucky.” The speaking voice is not Merz’ voice. Not even female in register. When it shifts again it is a perfect match to JAYNE’s. But it changes back … once again. You are wrong, civilian. It is Reynolds who is lucky.” With a final sneer, MERZ’ face relaxes back to it’s normal mode.
ROWAN has moved off into the kitchen area and is deep in preparations for whatever she is … well, preparing. MERZ considers her last question. “… Hey Merz, feel like shredding some protein for me?"
Yes. Right now that is just what MERZ ‘feels’ like doing. ~ i have no idea what that means. i do not care. I do not choose to think about things for a while. I would learn something new … ~
MERZ stands and walks into the kitchen area. Catching ROWANs attention she nods again. “Yes, I will shred protein. Show me.”
EOM
If Justice is the dish, then I am your waitress
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Wash's Move
Location - Bridge
(Wash is staring at the Helm console, sipping his tea, reading the data on the nw security moniters that Rowan has discovered... he suddenly blurts out): "Hey, Kaylee, dear, can I have a cupholder up here? When I'm drinking hot tea, I really need a place to put it, because I might need my fingers for flying the ship, instead of having them hold bandages, you know?"
(A teacup and saucer shatter right behind him, and Wash slowly turns to look, figuring that Kaylee will now kill him with one of those tools she usually keeps in her pocket... only to find that the Captain has dropped his. He sees the look in Mal's eyes, and he turns back around, figuring that everybody has been and still is ignoring him... why did he have to ask for a cupholder at a time like this? Maybe I need to unwind, I'm acting too crazy, maybe...
Let's work on the drop course some more, as he brings up the maps...)
On the Earth that was, the Sun that was, was just setting over a particular place that was... and the time there was 20:11 AMT (8:11 pm) Luckly the time was the same here as well.
Decoy, they make me go first.
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Inara's move
LOCATION - GALLEY
Inara empties out the dregs of that last batch of tea, sighing very softly and trying to keep her annoyance from showing. Her mood is like the summer thunderstorms on Sihnon, cold fronts and warm fronts colliding, raging vividly. Unlike the thunderstorms, though, her mood is silent, inward, and shows little sign of passing quickly and melting back into sunny skies.
She's hurting from Mal's apparent inability to even acknowledge her and smarting from the sense of fairness that prevents her from being truly furious with him: she knows she's hurting him too. Perhaps the two of them are the summer storm, the cold and the warmth, the lightning and the thunder...
The kettle of water reboils and Inara tips more tealeaves into the pot. Jayne is there in the preparation area and she acknowledges him -- everyone else is getting on with something else, and so Inara remains quiet, brooding a little on Mal and the broken teacup.
Merz's peculiar behavior registers with her, and she bites her lip quietly, not sure that her interference would do more than cause problems.
Still...
Inara takes one of the galley's mugs and pours a mug of green tea from the new pot. Offering Merz a little smile that doesn't reach her eyes -- she's not feeling like smiling, but it is a Companion's instinct -- she offers the other woman the mug.
"Here, you missed the tea before. Would you like some?"
EOM
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JAYNE - GALLEY
"Jayne." Merz's voice interupts his attempt at opening a conversation with Rowan. Jayne leans back to get an unobscured view of her as she sits at the table. "Are you implying that it was Captain Reynolds that put those contusions on your face?"
Well, si lang gou1, she certainly waited until enough people arrived before furthering what he tried to keep a private conversation. "I din't say no such thing", he throws back in an attempt to difuse her. It fails miserably. Instead, Jayne is left stunned by a playback of his own voice, word for word; was she even contorting her face to look more like him? That was hideous.
When Merz adds, "you are wrong, civilian. It is Reynolds who is lucky", Jayne's mouth leaps in to gear. "Cap'n got lucky with you? Well, what him an you are doin' behind closed doors ain't rightly my concern..."
"...Hey Merz, feel like shredding some protein for me?" Rowan breaks in.
Jayne's voice drifts off with a mutter of, "guess that'll show how civil I am." He lauches the empty fish stick container into the recycler.
1 dead man doggie
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Rowan's Move
LOCATION - Galley
So Reynolds is the one who put those marks on Jayne's face? Interesting. Recalling that little scene from the cargo bay when she and Jayne practically compared wounds, Rowan wonders what it was that would earn him that kind of treatment from his captain. And now he's gone from keeping his distance and giving her weird looks all day to offering to pound protein? Hearing a decided difference in Jayne's tone and seeing the eager way he's reaching for the rolling pin, at first Rowan starts to think maybe Reynolds may be on to something about that stalker gôu pì. Yet she's never felt entirely threatened by the man who's bigger than her and somewhat unpredictable.
Rowan is also getting the distinct impression that Merz's little interplay with Jayne is somehow specifically designed as a protection mechanism - as if Merz is intending to protect Rowan from the big bad man. Exactly why, Rowan has not a single clue, but it does pull Jayne's attention away for a pretty strange moment between the two of them.
Watching Merz's face change, hearing the decided difference in her voice, Rowan isn't entirely sure what to think, except maybe her theory about personality fragmentation might not be such a shot in the dark. Deciding it's time to bring a little touch of regimentation into the mix, she turns to Jayne.
ROWAN: "I imagine you're probably handy with a lot of things da jia huo. Turning compressed protein into something resembling bread dough does take some muscle, if you don't mind."
Holding out the rolling pin, she tightens her grip and tugs back when he tries to take it. Their eyes meet when he looks at her in askance.
ROWAN: "Go easy."
A lift of an eyebrow lets him know she's not just talking about the protein.
MERZ: “Yes, I will shred protein. Show me.”
Turning to see Merz standing at the ready, Rowan leaves Jayne to the first task and gives Merz a long look. She looks controlled enough, but there is still that underlying energy.
ROWAN: "It doesn't take a lot of precision, but it does take some control. I need the protein shredded, not pulverized, dong ma?"
Leaving Merz to properly process that information, Rowan goes for the kitchen knives and takes a medium-sized one, then the other brick of protein. Glancing over one shoulder, she sees Merz watching her every move as she moves a few feet down from Jayne. Cutting off a slice from the block, she slits the wrapper and removes it. She begins cutting the protein into squares, then drops them into the food processor. Adjusting the settings, she stands back and lets Merz see how long she holds down the button that activates the machine.
ROWAN: "Five seconds on the first burst... three on the second. Then pour it into this bowl." Quickly, she ducks down into a lower cupboard for a stainless steel one liter mixing bowl. "Then do it again. I only need half the brick shredded. Dong ma? And you."
Moving around, to Jayne's other side, she watches him try to flatten the protein down to something more closely resembling flatbread.
ROWAN: "Actually, that's pretty good. Not bad--seems you have done this before. Hold off a second, let me add something."
Reaching past him as he lifts the rolling pin, she grabs the soy and garlic powder. Sprinkling both, she spreads it over the surface as evenly as she can.
ROWAN: "There, work that in, then roll it out again. We'll start cutting the sections after that."
Hearing the food processor running with precision, seeing the little bit of tongue protruding from the corner of Jayne's mouth, Rowan relaxes just a bit and looks up to where Inara is standing by the stove. She's brooding about something, or more to the point, someone. Rowan figures if she were a kinder perso
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Inara's move.
LOCATION - GALLEY
"Cap'n got lucky with you? Well, what him an you are doin' behind closed doors ain't rightly my concern..."
And the storm is back, wind and lightning, chilling her to the bone. Inara's throat tightens painfully to the point where breathing seems to only exacerbate the sudden ache.
(Breathe. Just breathe.)
It's irrational.
Inara shakes her head a little, clinging to the shreads of control. Of her training. He shouldn't be able to do this to her. No one should. ... She'd sworn she wouldn't let him ruin her good mood. Wouldn't let him upset her again...
Another chill. The hairs on the back of her neck are almost standing up, and she feels cold. Quite, quite cold.
It's not true. It can't be true. It's just Jayne shooting his mouth off. Speaking without thinking, misinterpreting...
(Stop. Breathe. Calm down.)
She looks to Merz... no. No. She's certainly attractive, but...
(Is that why Mal won't look at me?)
This was Nandi and Saffron all over again: Inara was being completely irrational and more than a little hypocritical even thinking like this. And yet. The tightness in her throat is familiar.
Quote:
Flashbacks. Two. In rapid succession.
Cargo Bay. A shy redhead. Then Zoe's voice, triggering a stabbing pain in Inara's gut. Everybody, I want you to meet Mrs. Reynolds.
Heart of Gold. Early morning, heading to wake Nandi, just like old times at Madrassa. She hated mornings, and so Inara would sit with her, stroke her hair. The door opening. Mal emerging, closing the door quietly. Pulling his shirt on. Inara's stomach plummeting. She doesn't even remember the words exchanged. Just the tears that followed.
(Keep breathing.)
She has no claim on him... Inara knows this. Just "ifs and maybes", as Mal had once put it. Silent yearning. Foolish wishes that no trained Companion should ever...
There's hot prickle in her eyes and Inara clenches her jaw until the threat of tears is over.
(It's not true. There's not been the time. Mal's shown no signs of--)
Another glance at Merz.
(Stop it.)
She stirs the tea in the pot irritably, encouraging the tea to draw. She's breathing in the fragrance, hoping it will calm her down
(Breathe deep. Slowly. Uncoil that knot inside... Breathe in... and out, and try to let it go...)
EOM
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MERZ move
LOCATION - GALLEY
Another impression. She hears the voice now in playback –
INARA “Here, you missed the tea before. Would you like some?”
- and she is holding a mug of warm ~deep inhale~ spiced green tea ~ Did she thank INARA?
Jayne, he spoke too –
JAYNE “Cap'n got lucky with you? Well, what him an you are doin' behind closed doors ain't rightly my concern...”
That is clearly a reply. A reply to what? MERZ closes her eyes and concentrates … there is a discontinuity – a blank in her own perceptions. How strange? What does that mean?
As she ponders, she has continued toward ROWAN and the new task. She watches. She remembers to set down the mug before filling her hands with knife and protein. Concentrates; shredded, not pulverized, got it. Five seconds, then three; drop in bowl, repeat.
MERZ glances at Inara and finds her looking back. But her eyes … her bearing … her breathing even; something is wrong.
JAYNE talking in riddles, making happy chit-chat with ROWAN, smelling of paranoia and a little anger. INARA scenting of stress and perfume, and anger. ROWAN … she needs to speak to ROWAN.
Not now. Too many persons about. MERZ loses herself in routine, until half the block of protein is reduced to shreds. Turning to ROWAN she waits for the next step.
Confusion continues to color her mind. What was JAYNE trying to say? Was it important enough that she should ask someone? She sighs.
EOM
If Justice is the dish, then I am your waitress
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Slights move:
This man cannot leave!
Slight reformats his nanytes into a radio as he contacts Malachi. His mind reaches out, grasps the intruders mind.
He speaks softly to the man in his mind.
"I wouldn't go anywhere, boyo. I'm not finished with you."
He grins-he has it now. Slight exerts the pressure, and listens for the man to feel the blood vessels breaking. First it should be the nosebleed.
We can't all be heroes, since some of us have to sit at the curb and clap as they go by.
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